Toni’s face fell, and Zach opened his mouth, probably to blast him for being a dick to his VP’s ol’ lady.
“Of course, not,” Copper cut in. “Why would she? We keep that shit wrapped up tight. She just assumed they were another club like ours. Let’s get that straight from the start.”
Thunder could have kissed his president at that moment. Makenna visibly relaxed.
“Mak, if you don’t want to tell the story, I’ll let Thunder take over.”
She gazed at him, “Knock yourself out. My brain is too tired to remember all the details today.”
With a nod to Copper, he rubbed a hand up and down Makenna’s back as though he had as much right to touch her as these men did their ol’ ladies. When she didn’t protest, he left his hand at the base of her spine as he began. “Mav and I were there to scope shit out. We were working on getting closer to the clubhouse when I heard someone come out a back door. It was Mak. She had an incident that left her shaken and came out for some air.”
On the drive home, she’d finally fessed up to what went down with Crank. Thunder had almost cracked her steering wheel in half with the force of his grip. He itched to be left alone in a room with that fucker. Seasoned enforcer or not, he’d tear Crank apart with his bare hands for daring to lay a finger on Mak.
“Are you okay?” Shell asked with concern scrawled across her face. Not the obligatory kind, but the genuine kind one has for a true friend.
“Yes,” Mak said. “I’m fine. It was just a very long night, which is why I’ve been a little off today.”
Thunder draped his arm across Mak’s shoulders. When Screw raised an eyebrow, he diverted his gaze to the others. They could think whatever they wanted. He owed no explanations for his actions toward Mak. If he wanted to give the woman a comforting touch, he’d damn well do it. Didn’t mean he’d be putting a ring on it anytime soon, or ever.
“She overheard Crank and Blade planning an attack for today”—his eyes shifted to Jazz then back to the group at large— “on Jazz.”
“What?” Jazz straightened in her seat, gaze bouncing between Screw and Gumby, who sat on either side of her. “S-seriously?”
“Yes,” Mak said with a nod. She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table.
Nice to see her gaining some confidence and finding her voice amidst all the dominant personalities.
“They planned to be waiting here, out back for when you took out the trash. Seems like they’ve been watching for a while, learning your patterns. The plan was to, uh, beat you up to send a message to the club. They wanted you all to remember they’re still out there, and they haven’t forgotten about you.”
“Holy shit,” Jazz whispered on an exhale. Screw and Gumby both turned in, speaking low into her ears. She nodded and managed to keep her emotions in check.
With Mak tucked against him, Thunder kept his gaze on the loving threesome. Of all his brothers, the last one he’d have predicted to enter into a committed relationship was Screw, the biggest man-whore around. But he had, and Thunder would be lying if he said it didn’t suit the man.
A weird feeling twisted in his chest.
“So, that’s why I was forbidden to set foot outside the building, huh?” Jazz eventually asked.
“Yes.” Now that the cat had escaped the bag, Copper would be honest and blunt with his answers.
“Um,” Mak said, her gaze on the prez. “Are they…out there? Now?”
“We’re taking care of it.”
Honest and blunt, but not overly informative.
The vague answer had Mak tensing beside him, so he squeezed her shoulder.
“Are they going to figure out it was me? Who told you, I mean. I have um, some younger siblings who live with me. I need to know if they might not be safe.”
Shaking his head, Copper rubbed his chin. “As of now, we have no reason to believe they’ll suspect you. You said Crank didn’t realize you’d heard him, correct?”
Mak nodded as she drummed her nails against her coffee mug. Caffeine probably wasn’t the smartest move right now. She needed to go home and sleep, not be artificially awake for the next few hours running on jittery nerves and chemicals. Thunder wrapped his hand around hers, stilling the motion.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “No, he didn’t realize I’d heard him speaking. And he has no idea I have any kind of connection to your club. He thinks I’m just a friend of Kristy’s.”
“Good.” Copper smoothed a hand down the back of his wife’s head before resting it on her neck.
Screw jumped in. “We all drove here in cages today, so there aren’t any bikes out front. We’ve got it set up, so some of our guys just happen to wander out back and find the Disciples. They’ll have no reason to think anyone informed us beforehand. Just dumb bad luck that Rocket stumbled upon them and fucked them up.”